INSIGHTS FROM EXPERTS ON LINKEDIN
Chris Nightingale analyzed 750 campaigns after Google’s bid target change went live and found no major disruption, with most alarming numbers explained by budget edits and attribution lag rather than the update itself. He warns that one quiet day means very little, though, as Smart Bidding needs time to relearn, so advertisers should keep monitoring the campaigns that are actually exposed, especially budget-limited campaigns that are beating their targets.
Carolyn Dilks shows how events can look ineffective in attribution reports while actually playing a major role in creating long-term pipeline and revenue. By tracing full buyer journeys, she found that trade shows and seminars often happened years before opportunities were created, meaning they had already disappeared from standard tracking windows, making the problem one of measurement, not event performance.
Ivan Falco shares that after spending over $60K testing incentive ads, they saw major lifts in qualified meetings and pipeline, but only for brands that already had awareness and demand. The free gift doesn’t create interest; it lowers the friction for people who are already curious, so strong targeting, qualification, and a solid paid media strategy are what make these campaigns work.
Brenden Delarua asked Claude to analyze YouTube performance, and based on platform data showing just six conversions at around $1K daily spend, it suggested cutting the channel. But after adding post-purchase survey data showing that 12% of buyers discovered the brand through YouTube, the picture changed, highlighting why marketers need multiple data sources and shouldn’t make budget decisions based on platform attribution alone.
Sundar Swaminathan explains that brand marketing can improve performance marketing by increasing branded search, boosting conversion rates, and lowering CPCs, while the credit still goes to channels like Google and Meta. He suggests using geo tests to see what happens when brand spend is reduced in some markets, giving marketers stronger evidence of how brand investment affects performance.
Liam Moroney argues that the 95:5 rule is a useful starting point, but it shouldn’t be treated as a fixed truth, especially in fast-growing or volatile markets like SaaS and AI. He explains that the percentage of in-market buyers can be much higher when categories are growing or experiencing a surge in demand, which is why CMOs need to track market conditions instead of relying on broad benchmarks.
Julia Kinner – How Small Brands Grow explains that without proper segmentation, marketing teams end up targeting everyone and treating every possible activity as equally valuable. Good segmentation forces teams to decide which customers create the most value, where the brand can actually win, and, just as importantly, where not to spend.
Kees Henniphof introduces Design Agent, a new AI agent in GraFx Studio that lets designers build design systems using plain-language prompts. The tool can create variables, actions, layouts and output formats while following existing brand rules, and also connects with Figma and Aprimo to keep creative work on-brand and approved.
WHAT'S NEW IN THE INDUSTRY
B2B marketers have more data than ever, but many still struggle to prove marketing’s value because they aren’t connecting the numbers to what business leaders actually care about. Amazon Business CMO Kate Rundell argues that marketers need to speak the language of the C-suite, balance short-term performance with long-term brand building, and adapt to a more AI-driven role focused on orchestration rather than execution.
New research from iPullRank shows ChatGPT receives a higher share of paid Google clicks than any other major destination, highlighting how closely Google Search and AI discovery are becoming connected. The study also found that paid clicks have remained relatively stable as organic clicks decline, suggesting search ads could continue to play an important role as users increasingly move between Google and AI tools.
Google is rolling out generative AI in Performance Max to automatically create missing horizontal, vertical, or square versions of existing video ads. The update could help advertisers get more reach from their current creative, but brands should consider whether automatically generated versions meet their visual and brand standards, and can opt out by September 4.
Microsoft has published documentation for its beta Conversions API, giving advertisers a way to send online and offline conversion data directly from their own systems. It works alongside Universal Event Tracking rather than replacing it, helping fill measurement gaps when browser-based tracking is limited and bringing Microsoft closer to the server-side measurement approach used across the industry.
OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT Ads to 31 European countries, giving advertisers access to users who may be actively researching products and making purchase decisions through AI conversations. The platform is also adding more performance-focused features like conversion optimization, geo-targeting, custom audiences and its own Pixel and Conversions API, moving ChatGPT Ads closer to a full-scale advertising platform.
Microsoft is rolling out AI Max worldwide, bringing broader search matching, AI-generated ad copy and dynamic landing page selection to Search campaigns. The features are designed to help advertisers reach more complex and AI-driven searches, while Microsoft is keeping AI Max opt-in and adding controls, reporting and testing options to give advertisers more control over the automation.
Meta is giving its AI assistant direct access to Meta Ads and Google Workspace data, allowing it to analyze campaigns, suggest optimizations, spot creative and budget issues, and create reports. The update could take a lot of manual work out of paid media analysis, but advertisers will still need to judge whether Meta’s recommendations actually make sense for profitability and broader business goals.
Google is changing Demand Gen so view-through conversion optimization will focus only on video, while expanding the feature to the Google Display Network. It will also be turned on by default for new campaigns, and Display video ads will switch from CPC to CPM billing, so advertisers should review their settings and expected costs.
Not every moment in the customer journey carries the same weight – some moments can dramatically increase both the chance of a purchase and the risk of churn. The article argues that businesses should use customer data and AI to identify these critical moments, then make sure customers can reach a human when it matters instead of forcing them through automated chatbot flows.
That’s the scoop for this week! If you found this valuable and any useful insights caught your eye, feel free to share them with your network.
Until next week!
